**2.2 Possible measures to improve biogas production and commercialisation**

The economics of large-scale biogas plants, probably to serve communities, could also be investigated since they may have a much higher benefit-cost ratio compared to family sized plants. In order to launch commercial biogas systems in Africa, it is therefore necessary to introduce incentives in the form of policies, legislation, taxes and financial subsidies and weaken the barriers. This has been the practice in India, China and even in European countries. Presumably community biogas plants which permit higher efficiency rather than household plants should be set up than family units in rural communities. The chances of success of a village biogas plant would be higher for villages with clustered dwellings rather than with dwellings scattered over large distances.

A list summarising the priority issues which must be tackled by most African nation for the development of biogas technology is given in Table 5.


Anaerobic Biogas Generation for Rural Area Energy Provision in Africa 49

therefore the need for an intervention, that help to reduce women's labour and time, which could be used for other productive purposes, and to improve the health conditions of women. In this regards, an intervention with anaerobic digestion is needed. Such an intervention should be based on gender concerns both at macro and micro levels in terms of recognizing women's roles and responsibilities and their priorities regarding rural energy. The focus should be on reducing expenditure of human energy rather than only saving fuel. Hence, it is very important here to consider the practical gender needs, which fulfil the regular energy needs at household level while saving the time and labour of women, and the strategic gender needs, which provides the opportunities for women to be involved in

Households in Africa, particularly in the rural areas are increasingly facing energy supply problems. According to United Nations (2010) there are approximately 60% of the total African population living in the rural areas. Biomass in form of wood, cow dung, and crop residues biomass constitutes 30% of the energy used in Africa and over 80% used in many sub-Saharan countries such as Burundi (91%), Rwanda and Central Africa Republic (90%), Mozambique (89 %), Burkina Faso (87%), Benin (86%), Madagascar and Niger (85%) (cited in United Nations Economic and Social Council, 2007). The availableness of these traditional fuels (wood, dried dung and agricultural waste) is declining (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Integrated Science and Technology ISAT, undated), while the commercialised fuels (e.g. charcoal) are very expensive and their availability unreliable. Domestic biogas provides an opportunity to overcome these challenges in the rural areas. This is because biogas production makes use of domestic resources such as agricultural crop wastes and animal wastes such as pigs, cattle, and poultry as well as human excreta. Biogas production using the existing domestic resources therefore, has a potential to provide a number of benefits to the rural communities in Africa. Biogas plants that are well functioning can provide a wide range of direct benefits to the users particularly in the rural areas. Many of these benefits are directly linked to the Millennium Development Goals of reducing income poverty, promoting gender quality,

The bulk of the rural population in Africa have no access to electricity. According to World Economic Outlook (2010), only 14% of sub-Saharan African has access to electricity. It is thus estimated that 582 million rural people in sub-Saharan Africa did not have access to electricity in 2009 (World Economic Outlook, 2010). North Africa is an exception because 98.4% of rural population is electrified and only 2 million did not have access to electricity in 2009 (World Economic Outlook, 2010). Biogas is a potential off-grid, clean energy fuel solution for rural areas of Africa (Amigun and von Blottnitz, 2010), that can provide energy

Fuel wood consumption is often portrayed as a cause of environmental degradation, and may lead to energy insecurity for rural African households, especially where the resource is

social and economic activities for their self-enhancement and empowerment.

**3.1 Biogas in rural communities and its benefit** 

promoting health and environmental sustainability.

services such as cooking, heating and lighting.

**3.1.2 Environmental benefits** 

**3.1.1 Renewable energy generation** 


Table 5. Priority issues which must be tackled by African countries for the development of biogas technology.
